


Interlude IV: On the Shores

by AndiiErestor



Series: Different Time, Different Place [8]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-04 22:11:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16798042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiiErestor/pseuds/AndiiErestor
Summary: Melpomaen is excited, and the waves of joy rolling off everyone on the boat makes his heart sing.





	Interlude IV: On the Shores

Our ship pulled into the bay at midday.

Many awaited our arrival on the shore. For hours now we had been able to see large groups of people standing on the pristine white sands of the beach, yet could not see the faces of our loved ones – only their hair. There were several dark heads, many blonds, and one very tall redhead – towering above all the rest – leaving little doubt as to his identity.

Elladan and Elrohir expressed a great level of excitement at seeing him. _If he waits for us, then ada much be with him! He couldn’t have come on his own, surely. Is nana with them? There are so many people, and grandfather is of silver hair as well, how are we to know from this distance?_

Legolas had begun singing as we crossed the enchanted isles and rounded Tol Eressëa. This prompted Lindir to join in as well, so glad was he always to let his voice be heard in song. Their joy was palpable as together, their voices raised high, they sang of love and life and of coming home.

 _Da_ sang a few verses with them too – those he remembered – while holding _papa_ close in his arms. Truly, one day, I hoped to find a love like theirs.

Lord Gimli hummed and clapped along, his chubby round form swaying from side to side merrily and he laughed the twins away when they joined in with Legolas to poke fun at him.

An aura of bliss surrounded us all. It spread over the entirety of the ship and helped us to press forward. The wind in our sails, a gift from Manwë himself, seemed to push us forth in the largest gulps of air I’d ever seen.

We were headed home, that much was clear, and we were to be eagerly welcomed.

As we approached the harbour, faces came into view at last, and all of us were torn between casually pretending to sit and wait, and practically hanging off the front of the ship in an attempt to make it arrive more swiftly.

That wouldn’t help of course, but it still made us feel _closer_.

Legolas stood silently and wept. The tears fell down his face without a trace of either joy or pain on his features, but having seen who stood next to Thranduil, we all understood. It was a marvellous occasion.

And then, almost too quickly, there we were!

The ship was attached to the dock and we all stood by the plank exchanging disbelieving looks, until finally Elladan and Elrohir ran off first.

Over the plank, down the docks, and straight into their weeping mother’s arms. It was a beautiful sight to see. And at the reminder of what had happened to her, my eyes were drawn farther along the shore, looking, _searching_ , for those who had left us too soon.

And there they were.

Huddled together, apart from all the others: Muineth and Aennen. _Naneth! Adar!_

 _Finally_.

It was my turn to cry then, and I took little Lindir by the hand – though little he was no more, and dragged him forward with me. Our stumbling walk turned into a quick stride, which turned into a full-blown sprint as we harshly passed by the lord and lady of Imladris to fall into our parents’ arms.

Legolas too, stepped from the ship, and in the regal manner of his father before him, _also_ approached his parents, though he wept silently into his mother’s shoulder. It was only on our long voyage across the sea that we had learned that Legolas, like myself and Lindir, had only known his mother a short time before she passed, and though Thranduil had had the strength to carry on for his son, the love he had for his wife ever hung as a cloud above him.

Gimli, then, walked down the plank as well, and many a gasp was heard, for certainly it was unheard of to bring a mortal to the _undying_ lands – although the exception had been made for the ringbearer and his uncle. And yet, no outrage was found.

Blessedly.

For Galadriel offered the dwarf a quick smile, and he was enamoured once again, flustered and red-faced. And Thranduil, despite his previous policies on dwarves, saw too that his son was quite fond of him, and that their perilous quest had seen them become – mostly – fast friends.

Maedhros, for his part, was eager to speak with him and to find out what sort of crafts the dwarves had created during his absence from the world – just as eager, it seemed, as he was to meet whom Elrond affectionately referred to as the redhead’s grandsons, even as Maglor pushed him out of the way to hug them.

It was a unique thing, to see him welcomed among our people as one of our own – _heartwarming_.

And yet, most of all…

I turned in mother’s embrace to look upon them.

Apart from all of us, quietly at the end of the docks, stood a pair of silent elves.

One light, and one dark.

Da held papa around the waist and hugged him, chest to back, and they frequently did.

It brought to mind the many times they had stood just like this, on the balcony of our private family rooms, facing the large field just behind the gardens of the last home house, when Lindir and I played with Elladan and Elrohir when we were yet children.

It was amazing really, how their love had endured. There were certainly more notable pairs than they – as papa was happy to note whenever I teased them about how beautiful they seemed together – and yet, it was their love I looked up to. It was their simple love of each other that brought a smile to my face whenever I imagined how I might one day feel when I finally found my _true love_ , no matter how cliché the sentiment was. They were opposites in every way, and yet so magnetically drawn to each other.

Da with his long waves of golden hair. He’d left it loose this morning, and the wind that had blown through it all day created playful waves in it. All the while papa’s hair remained pin straight and jet black, untouched by the sun, but at night the stars made it their playground.

Da, the taller of the two, and stronger with a wide frame – it seemed he could swallow papa whole with his arms when they pressed very close like this, and yet, when it came to papa’s words, none could fare against him – except perhaps lord Elrond.

In habits also, where papa preferred to play chess and write, da preferred to read poetry and sing – he _had_ taught Lindir many of the songs he knew from his youth. It was part of what made Lindir such an excellent and sought-after minstrel, for few new the songs of the old ages as they were meant to be sung.

Together, like the sun and the moon, they were what kept the world in balance, for without one, the other would burn too strong and cause chaos and mayhem, but together…

Together they kept harmony and created a balance most never knew they needed until they had it.

It was for this reason that my heart went out to them as they stood there alone – but _not alone_.

They had us. They had all of us. For their magnetism was not limited only to each other, but when they chose to share that love with those around them, we _all_ were pulled in.

And so it was no surprise, that when they finally turned away from the sea, and from their silent goodbyes to the land that had witnessed their love and their loss, and the immense tide of hardship and success that was the majority of their lives, they were greeted with the smiling faces of all their friends and family.

And it was no surprise, that when we approached them to welcome them home, those smiles were returned tenfold.


End file.
